What a cup of lemonade costs to make
Before you pick a price, know what one cup costs to make. For a classic batch: lemons, sugar, ice and the cup itself. The Starter Kit’s batch dial works it out, and it comes to about 42 cents a cup in lemons, sugar and ice for fresh-squeezed lemonade. The paper cup adds a few cents more. If your price is at least double your cost, every cup is making money.
Lemonade stand price per cup, worked out
Take the 42 cents off the price and what is left is roughly yours, less a few cents for cups. Here is what each price keeps, per cup and on a forty-cup Saturday:
- $1 a cupAbout 58 cents kept per cup. Forty cups: $40 in, about $23 kept.
- $2 a cupAbout $1.58 kept per cup. Forty cups: $80 in, about $63 kept.
- $3 a cupAbout $2.58 kept per cup. Forty cups: $120 in, about $103 kept.
The jump from $1 to $2 nearly triples what the kid keeps, and most customers do not blink at it for a fresh-squeezed cup with ice. That is why $2 is such a popular lemonade stand price for a fresh cup.
Round numbers sell
- $1The classic. Everybody has one, nobody argues. You need a lot of cups to make real money.
- $2The sweet spot for a fresh-squeezed cup with ice. Still feels like a lemonade stand, pays like a job.
- $3Fair for a big cup, a special flavor, or a stand with a line. Say why on the sign: “fresh-squeezed, big cup.”
- $1.50 or $1.75Avoid. Nobody wants to count out change at a card table, and neither do you.
Two sizes beats one
A small at $1 and a big at $2 does something clever: it gives the customer a choice, and most people take the big one. You sell the same lemonade at the higher price, and the dollar cup is still there for the kid with a dollar.
“Pay what you can” works
For a fundraiser, or a stand in a neighborhood where you know everyone, a jar and a sign that says “pay what you can” often brings in more than a fixed price. People are generous when it is their choice, and a stand raising money for something gets fives and tens. Say what the money is for, right on the sign.
Say the price on the sign
A price on the sign means nobody has to ask and nobody drives past wondering. Make it the second-biggest thing on the sign, right under the word LEMONADE. The lemonade stand sign ideas guide shows where it goes.
A lemonade stand price list you can copy
Copy this onto a card for the table, or put the top two lines on the big sign:
- Lemonade, small$1
- Lemonade, big$2
- Strawberry lemonade$3
- RefillHalf price
- Cookie$1
Round numbers only. A price list with $1.25 on it means counting quarters all afternoon.
When to change the price
A price is not forever. Watch what happens at the table and let it tell you:
- Sold out by noon?The price is too low, or the batch is too small. Next week, make more or go up a dollar.
- People walk up, read the sign, and leave?The price may be the problem. Try a $1 small cup next to the $2 one.
- Lots of people paying with a five and saying “keep it”?They think it is worth more. A bigger cup at $3 is waiting to happen.
- A slow, hot afternoon?Do not drop the price. Move the corner sign, or move the stand to where people are.
Change one thing at a time, and write down what happened. That is the same way grown-up businesses test a price.
Pricing specials and add-ons
A special flavor earns a special price. Strawberry lemonade costs a little more to make and people expect to pay a little more for it, so a dollar more than the classic is fair. A cookie or a bag of popcorn next to the lemonade works best at $1, because it is an easy yes on top of a cup. And a deal like “lemonade and a cookie, $3” sells more cookies than either price on its own, because people like a deal more than they like doing sums.
Lemonade stand prices for kids’ stands
A kid’s stand does not have to be the cheapest lemonade in town to sell. People stop because a kid is running it; the price is the last thing they think about. What matters is that the price is easy, it is on the sign, and the cup is cold. A first-time stand on a quiet street might start at $1 to get people stopping, then try $2 the next Saturday and see if the cups still go. Write down what sold each time. That notebook is how real businesses set prices too.
New to all of it? The Starter Kit covers how to start a lemonade stand, and its dial shows what your own batch costs before you buy a single lemon.
New to running a stand? The lemonade stand permit rules in Oklahoma are one short read.